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10 Years Ago, 'Flashpoint' Opened The Door For 'Wynonna Earp,' 'Orphan Black' and 'Travelers'

In the summer of 2008, amidst the fallout of a damaging writers strike in the first half of the year, America broadcast networks were desperate for content. For CBS, one solution ended up coming from a strange place: Canada. What resulted from an unassuming find meant to just fill time was a series that would break the door down for shows such as Orphan Black and Wynonna Earp to thrive a decade later. That find? Flashpoint.

It wasn’t anything particularly different on paper, just another take on the idea of an elite police unit in a major metropolitan area. However, what made this one different wasn’t its concept, but its roots. It was unabashedly Canadian. No swaps for American money. No American flag inserts. No hiding Toronto for another city. It was a show that was made in Canada, by Canadians, for Canadians.

However, something unexpected happened when the show premiered: American audiences took a liking to it. On a regular basis, the unassuming Canadian series was managing a healthy audience between 2008 - 2009 close to ten million viewers, sometimes crossing that number.

With that rating consistency in the usually very weak summer and mid-season replacement slots, a shocking realization to the American television business model was uncovered: Canada had become a player.

Before Flashpoint, the only country American networks were willing to import from on a regular basis was The U.K., and even those imports were limited to niche cable stations like Syfy and BBC America. These imports simply didn’t play to mainstream audiences. But that all changed with Flashpoint.

After its success took hold, American networks were trying to grab the hopeful next Flashpoint. ABC, in particular, picked up this trend with the similarly themed Rookie Blue and detective procedural, Motive.

But the trend of taking Canadian television seriously was even further pushed once Orphan Black appeared. A show containing a performance so good, it won Tatiana Maslany the Emmy for Best Lead Actress in a Drama in 2016. After Orphan Black, there was Wynonna Earp, Dark Matter and Killjoys on Syfy and Travelers on Netflix, who just poured $500 million into Canadian specific productions.

All of this, the cult hits, the Emmys, the Netflix money push, it all starts with the little cop show that could, Flashpoint. It was a show that proved there was an American audience hungry for something different. While Flashpoint wasn’t new in concept, it was new in execution.

It was a cop show about cops that did everything they could to not draw their weapons. A cop show about cops doing everything differently. But that, on its face, shouldn’t have been enough to hook the American side of the border.

Some of it had to do with concept and execution. Some of it had to do with timing. Some of it just had to do with luck. Regardless of all those combined realities, Flashpoint was a proof of concept for Canada. It was proof that Canadian television could go international. It was proof there was a country beyond The U.K. that could peak the interest of American audiences. It was proof Canada was ready to play.

Flashpoint came and went, but Canadian television has never looked back and it has its little under the radar cop show to thank for all of it.

I write about the television business. Why networks cancel your favorite shows, why sure things don’t go to series, why the Nielsen ratings still matter, if it concerns…

I write about the television business. Why networks cancel your favorite shows, why sure things don’t go to series, why the Nielsen ratings still matter, if it concerns the small screen, it concerns me too. I've studied media since college and have been covering television since 2009 for sites such as FilmSchoolRejects.com and ScreenInvasion.com. In that time I've learned it’s one of the most fascinating entertainment mediums to explore. It’s a medium that runs a million miles a minute where one week’s smash hit can be another week’s failure. It takes a trained eye to understand its complexity, and that’s what I intend to do.